In recent years there has been a growing awareness of the need to preserve natural resources. In this regard, it has been discovered that paper, such as newspapers, can be suitably processed and reused.
To reuse paper, it is necessary to first collect the paper at numerous locations, tie it into bales, containerize the bales, and then ship it to a central plant where it is processed for reuse. One problem with this form of shipment is that the freight charges are relatively high, and this adversely effects the cost of paper recycling.
Common assignee's copending application Ser. No. 364,806 (now abandoned in favor of continuation application Ser. No. 516,280), filed May 29, 1973, entitled "Stable Blocks Formed of Shredded Paper-Like Material" and naming Gerald B. Nelson and William J. Prindle as inventors (said copending application being a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 225,122 (now abandoned) filed on Feb. 10, 1972, entitled "Stable Blocks Formed of Shredded Paper-Like Material"), discloses a method for reducing the cost of paper recycling. This method involves the conversion of paper to be recycled into stable blocks. With the paper converted to block form, it can be shipped in bulk form. The freight rate for bulk products is less than for baled materials, and therefore there is a substantial freight savings. In addition, baling is eliminated. Finally, the handling charges are reduced because blocks can be loaded and unloaded by a machine.
According to this prior application, the blocks are composed of paper fragments held together by a suitable binder or adhesive. The blocks are made by shredding paper to form paper fragments, adding a water soluble adhesive to the paper fragments, and extruding the paper fragments under heat and pressure to thereby cause the adhesive to hold the fragments together in a stable block.
The blocks are shipped to a recycling plant where the paper is reused. Because the adhesive is water soluble, the blocks can be readily broken up at the recycling plant.
Although the invention of this prior application represents a substantial advance in this field, it does require the addition of adhesive in order to form a block. The adhesive reduces, to the extent that it is present, the percent by weight of each block which is composed of paper. Thus, some of the freight charges are for shipping adhesive rather than paper. In addition, the purchase of adhesive increases the cost of the block forming or cubing process.